Howard McEwen, CFA

I’m not a military guy. I’ve no interest in military things. I respect them and value what they do. I stand when those who serve or have served parade by and upon meeting them I, to paraphrase Prince Hal, hold my manhood cheap.

But if I was given short notice that I was being tossed into battle to fight forces aligned against my country I’d want to make sure I had Pandora’s Grave loaded onto my Kindle. Re-reading it would give me a sense of what I was about to go up against. There’s is such a profound sense of realism in this novel that I’m agog at the amount of research that must have went into it. We’re accustomed to suspending belief when reading or watching fiction – especially in spy/thriller tales but not once did I feel Stephen England was asking me to. This felt like what those men tasked with covert ops must go through. That’s not only a sign of respect to the soldiers England writes about but a deep sign of respect to the intelligence of his reader.

Other signs of respect to the reader? An original plot that reaches back into history and writing that is direct and vivid with an economy of words that is a reflection on the stoicism of the type of men he writes about.

The sign of a good book for me is one that sticks with you over time. I have a feeling this will be one of them. Whether I’m reading about an archaeological dig in the middle east or another report of another explosion in that region my thoughts will wander back to Pandora’s Grave and the dangers the world faces and the men who silently thwart those dangers time and again.